A former Brown student and College Republican says the university’s spending choices left campus exposed and helped a killer move through old buildings without detection. He argues administrative bloat and misplaced priorities mattered more than tragic fate, and he faced pushback after calling attention to the problem. The fallout included discipline that was later dropped and a wider debate about safety, transparency, and what an Ivy League name should guarantee.
Alex Shieh, who used to run the student paper, views the security failure as predictable, not random. “I don’t think it’s particularly surprising that the old buildings on campus have never been retrofitted with updated security systems, because that’s not what the priorities are with the spending, and that they know that people will want to come to Brown anyway, irrespective of the facilities, because of the Ivy League name,” Shieh said. He sees a school that spends for prestige while neglecting basics that keep people alive.
He points to the striking contrast between high tuition, a massive endowment and the lack of visible protective measures. “It is sort of confusing to people that you have a school that costs $100,000 a year, you have an $8 billion endowment,” Shieh said. “How come the building doesn’t have cameras?” That question haunts families and alumni who expect safety to be a top-line priority.
Shieh’s criticism wasn’t idle commentary; it came after he probed administrators’ roles and pay while running the Brown Spectator. His inquiries sparked pushback from university staff, and Brown moved to discipline him, accusing him of misrepresenting the school and breaching operational rules. Those charges were ultimately dropped, but the clash touched off a broader review and a House Judiciary Committee hearing about free speech and university spending.
“There’s about 4,000 administrators at a school of about 11,000 students,” Shieh said. “And this struck me as odd, and it struck me very clear that this growth and ballooning in the number of staff administrators is what’s been leading to the cost of tuition rising precipitously all across the country, but particularly at a school like Brown University.” He also noted that the Ivy League label, not facilities, sells the brand. “The classes aren’t necessarily what distinguishes [Brown] from other schools, not the caliber of the facilities, not the caliber of the dorms, but [what] really distinguishes Brown and makes it worth the price in the eyes of some people is the fact that Brown is in the Ivy League,” Shieh added.
Shieh said the shooting hit close to home. “She was just somebody who was very nice and everybody respected, and nobody really had a problem with her on campus, which is why it was so surprising that it happened to her, of all people,” Shieh said. The shock amplified questions about why basic prevention tools weren’t in place for students who deserve protection as a matter of course.
Authorities say Claudio Neves-Valente walked onto campus on Nov. 13 and killed two people before driving to a nearby city and taking another life at a university two days later. A manhunt followed; Neves-Valente was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot. Investigators credit a homeless man who lived on campus for giving details that helped trace the suspect, an example of how human vigilance, not systems, ended up closing the gap.
Shieh argues the problem is not mystery but choices. “They use their money in really silly ways,” Shieh said. “Like paying their athletic director of a small Ivy League school millions of dollars a year and having an inordinate amount of administrators on staff.” That kind of spending, he says, leaves essential security upgrades unmade and students exposed to unnecessary risk.
